Maya and Luca

Best friends, of course.

Maya's new dress

Maya calls it the Zebra Dress. When Mommy bought it two months ago Maya refused to wear it because it's not pink and it's not a tutu. But she loves it now.

Nikkei Matsuri in Japantown, San Jose

We missed the SF Japantown parade last Sunday because we couldn't find parking. Today we visit the Japantown in San Jose to see the Nikkei Matsuri (Japanese American Festival) celebration. It takes us an hour to get out of the house -- both Luca and Maya keep mommy super busy. The parking is difficult but after twenty minutes' circling around we finally find a spot three blocks away.

It's very crowded. There are a lot of street vendors, and there is also a lot of dancing and singing. Maya's favorite performances are performed by little girls not so much older than she is. They wear pretty dresses. We also see the flower arrangement show. Luca is curious in the beginning but he soon falls asleep.

Maya meets her little friends Zixin and Ben and they have a fantastic time.

  

Ballet dresses and tutu's

I don't know how we went from brutal tomboy to girly princess/ballerina/mermaid (still pretty brutal). Every morning is now a battle in regards to what to wear. We agree the night before on what to wear and put it out for the next morning but........

First thing in the morning we get dressed (if things go well) and then while pappa takes a shower you undress and put on either the tutu or the full on ballerina dress. We have at least agreed to not wear the ballerina outfit to school but it's impossible to get you out of the tutu and "tights". Only problem is that now every single pair of tights are worn out and we now have a battle of what pants to wear.

I don't understand how it all became so girly?

Having a nice day

We head to the city because weigong and waipo want to see the grand parade at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown. But when we get there, we cannot find parking - all the garages are full and there're lines of cars everywhere. Papa has a brilliant idea, "Let's go to the Golden Gate Park." We have a great time visiting the California Academy of Sciences. Even Luca enjoys it.

Maya writing

It's dinnertime but Maya is still not at the table.
"Maya, time for dinner!" Mommy says the tenth time.
No response.
"Maya!" Mommy is impatient, thinking about all the tips she's read from the books about getting kids to listen.
"Here you go, mama." Maya finally runs over and hands her a piece of paper.
Mommy is very impressed.

It's a hot day.

It's over 30 degrees. Weigong, Maya and Luca are in the garden.

Maya, a little artist

According to Maya

Drawing 1: papa, mama and Maya, hand in hand, riding a boat on a rocky ocean.

Drawing 2: Octopus (chalk on driveway, signed)

Drawing 3: The sun, two apple trees, the mountains, the ocean, the rocks and the tropical blue fish

Drawing 4: It's a beautiful day. The sun and the moon both shine above the undulating mountains. Standing beside an apple tree, Maya watches the ocean and the colorful reflections.

Maya is dancing

A picture is worth a thousand words. :)

Maya's new love

Maya is very into yoga these days. Mommy's influence? Maybe. She's learned many poses and loves practising them.

Another new thing about her is doing math. Ask her, 3+3, 3+2, 4+6, 5+4...she'll give you all the correct answers. Papa is amazed, saying he couldn't do math until he was much older. So you know where Maya got her math gene. :)

Of course, Papa has his contributions too. Just ask Maya what her favorite car is.

Luca is five months old

Luca just turned five months. He's very good at rolling from tummy to back, so diaper changing (he wears diaper three now) is a big challenging now. He rolled from back to tummy several times too. His legs have a lot of strength. So watch out when you hold him.

He's probably teething because he likes biting. Weipo complained that he bit her fingers so hard that it hurt. He likes kissing (or chewing at) your face, making it very wet.

Every morning Waigong and Waipo take him to the neighborhood park, where they meet other Chinese grandparents with their grandchildren. Luca is famous for being a "xiao shuai ge," a little handsome guy, and for his sweet smiles.

He started a little solid food two weeks ago, mainly rice cereal and yogurt. But it looks like that he's eager to try more solid food.

He weighs over 17 pounds. Maya was barely 20 pounds when she was one year old.

Maya and her new swimsuit

Maya loves her Hello Kitty swimsuit. It's time to take swimming classes!

Maya dances

Maya loves her pink ballet dress and wears it whenever she has a chance.

Maya's injured wrist

Maya injured her right wrist while playing on Sat., right before mommy and daddy were leaving for a good friend's wedding in San Francisco. Ouch!!! She went to see a doctor and got x-rayed. Luckily nothing is broken.

Mommy keeps her home today. Maya plays in the park in the morning. Then Weigong reads her Chinese stories and teaches her how to write Chinese characters. She writes with her left hand. Luca joins the fun too. See, he's reading .

Luca's sleepless night

How's Luca? People asked.
He eats a ton and sleeps like a baby, Mommy answered, always with a smile.

Well, every mom knows what "sleeping like a baby" means. It means he keeps mommy up all night long. Is he hungry? No, not really, because he sucks lazily and unwillingly. Does he want to play? No, not really, because his eyes are closed. Does he have a soiled diaper? No, not really because mommy just changed him. Is he sick? Definitely not. Then why does he make all the noises and kick his legs and throw his arms around like the whole world owes him?

Last night, around 5am, after the 20th times he spit out the pacifer mommy put into his mouth, mommy handed him to daddy. Within five minutes he fell asleep in daddy's embrace -- but not before mommy fell aleep first.

Maya and her pink tutu

In the past two weeks, Maya has worn her pink/purple tutu every single day. Every morning when she gets up she stripps herself naked (despite Waigong's and Waipo's pleading -- "Put on clothes or you'll catch a cold.") and takes her time to pick her own clothes -- pink is now her new favorite. And she loves leggings which she avoided before. Mommy bought her some cute stuff (in mommy's definition) from macy's but she doesn't fancy them. Papa also bought her some really cute stuff (in papa's definition) from Hanna Anderssen. Let's see if she'll wear them.

Two nights ago, she visited her little friends Victoria, four and a half, and Elliot, two and a half, in Atherton. My, they had so much fun, chasing each other around the house, dressing up, painting, chatting, hiding the "secrets" they made, playing house under a table. Luckily, Luca slept through all the audacious rackets of noises, showing once again how calm he is.